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As the regular season concludes in fantasy baseball, there are always awards to be handed out. As far as pitching went, this was one of the best seasons ever. There was a handful of new talent (Matt Harvey, Shelby Miller, Jose Fernandez) that came out of nowhere to become legitimate fantasy contributors and there was some veterans that once again turned in All-Star performances.
The one pitcher that deserves the fantasy baseball Cy Young this season, though, is Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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Kershaw is currently first in the National League in innings pitched (198.1), strikeouts (188), ERA (1.72), and WHIP (0.86). The southpaw also has 13 wins on the year, but with a little more run support that number could easily be over 16 already.
Over his last 22 starts, Kershaw has lasted at least seven innings in 19 outings. Kershaw has also pitched eight innings in three straight outings. He continues to last long into his starts time after time, and innings pitched is a very underrated fantasy statistic.
Even more helpful has been what Kershaw has done with his bat this season. In his first start of the year, Kershaw hit a home run, which ended up being the deciding run in his complete game shutout. It seems that each time the team needs a big hit during one of his starts, he is the one to come up with it. Most leagues don’t reward for a pitcher’s hits, but the extra run support has at least helped him lock up a couple more wins for fantasy owners.
The scariest thing about watching Kershaw pitch right now is that the kid is just only 25 years old. He is about to sign a monster deal, probably the biggest ever by a pitcher, and the lefty has already thrown over 1,100 innings.
Kershaw will continue to be the number one hurler in the fantasy playoffs. If you are lucky enough to have him on your roster, feel confident that you have a good shot at winning a title this season.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
